Envy
by Kirlial
Summary: Superman cares about Robin, pays attention to him. Conner watches in envy.


**Hey there, this is my first foray into the Young Justice fandom though I do have a bunch more ideas floating around in my mind so hopefully this won't be the last. I absolutely love the series and have been reading young justice fanfiction for a while now. Anyway, I hope you like this little piece.**

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Conner heard the sounds of heavy footsteps coming towards the gym of course, but paid them no mind. Black Canary always encouraged him to give his full attention during training sessions and she tended to be right. Besides, fights between Robin and Artemis were always very interesting. It was hardly a rare occurrence for some league member to glance in while the team was training.

The battle was almost over, he could tell. Artemis had inevitably allowed Robin to get close to her - too close for her to use her bow. While Artemis was more than adept at hand-to-hand combat, Robin had the clear advantage and deftly took her down with a feint aimed at her knees, then a fierce kick to the head. Robin grinned in satisfaction as the program declared him the victor.

"Hey Robin!" A deep, far too familiar voice called out from the doorway.

 _He_ was here. But he never came here, he avoided Mount Justice. Conner couldn't stop himself from looking over to see Superman standing tall and with an easy smile on his face. Smiling at Robin, he noted grimly. Why Robin?

Robin was walking up to greet Superman, not looking wary or displeased at all. In fact, he seemed to be smiling, like it was a nice thing to have Superman calling out to you out of the blue. And maybe it was, though he doubted he'd ever get experience it, with the way things were.

"Superman, what brings you here?" Robin was asking.

Black Canary came over to the pair as well. "You are interrupting a training session." Her voice was cold, stern.

The rest of the team stood back, watching like him. Artemis had retreated to her usual seat, to recover from her fight. M'gann was shooting him concerned glances and he nodded in acknowledgement. He was fine, really. Black Canary was going to deal with Superman.

Superman didn't act perturbed by Canary's uncharacteristically chilly reception. "I'm surprised you're even making him participate." He gave a slight nod towards Robin. "Wasn't he kidnapped just yesterday?"

Robin was kidnapped? A quick exchange of glances showed the rest of the team, even Black Canary, looked taken aback while Robin was looking down sheepishly. He'd chosen not to mention it to them, then.

"I'm perfectly fine now," Robin said, annoyance evident in his tone.

Superman chuckled. "Wait, you actually were kidnapped? That was just a shot in the dark, honestly."

Then Superman was reaching down and swiftly picked Robin up, catching the boy by surprise. "I guess you really live up to your name, Boy Hostage."

"Oi, put me down." Robin snapped, scowling but with no real vehemence in it. Robin didn't really seemed to mind being picked up, as he quickly stopped struggling in Superman's unbreakable grip.

"So, what's your real reason for coming over then? If it's not to lecture me over non-existent, or maybe slightly existent hostage situations?" Robin asked Superman.

"The usual. Batman's hosting some meeting about advanced security protocols that I'm technically obliged to attend. I'll just tell him I'm taking the rare opportunity to visit his miniature partner."

Robin was looking far too relaxed and comfortable being held by Superman. How were the two so familiar with each other? Couldn't Superman give him that kind of attention too? What made Robin worthy of such attention anyway? Superman hadn't so much as looked in his direction once, had probably forgotten he was there at all even.

His mind registered the yellow blur suddenly appearing next to him. Wally put a hand on his arm in a gesture of comfort and shot him a sunny smile when Conner looked over at him. M'gann wasn't the only one concerned about him now. But they couldn't fix this.

"This is not opportunity," Black Canary said to Superman, stiffly. "You are disturbing this team's training session and you shouldn't be avoiding an important meeting either."

"To be honest, Batman will probably prefer you're not there either. The lecture will be mainly for show," Robin said, lightly. "It is kind of inevitable though."

Superman shrugged. "Yeah, I figured."

"Robin!" Black Canary snapped.

Robin acted appropriately cowed. "I guess I do have to go back to training, obligations and all. Nice seeing you though."

"Robin's known Superman for a few years, so they're on good terms is all. Don't worry about it alright?" Wally spoke up softly from beside him, as they both watched Superman put Robin down.

Conner nodded stiffly. It wasn't exactly new information, that Robin knew many members of the Justice league well. Still, he couldn't pretend to like seeing it. He was glad Black Canary was making Superman leave.

"Don't know when I'm supposed to catch you though. How often are you not training, attending school, out on patrol or on a mission, or asleep?" Superman asked, though his tone remained light. "Or held hostage?" He added with a grin.

Robin had been turning to go back over to his seat but paused and turned around again, giving Superman a grin back. "Guess you have to book an appointment to spend time with my illustrious self."

"I have no hope then, Batman would check over them and probably reject me just to spite me, calling me a security risk or some other bat-nonsense." Superman replied. Conner couldn't help but note that he didn't seem to be leaving.

And Robin was playing along! "Must be still holding a grudge from that one time you took me out to that luxury cruise ship. While it was at sea."

Superman was laughing along about some incident he'd never heard of and Conner couldn't help but feel angry. Neither Superman or Robin seemed to have remembered he was there.

"Hey, Robin?" Conner called out, purely to get the younger boy's attention.

Robin's head turned to face him, and his smile melted off his face, guilty expression forming instead.

A second later, Robin had turned back to Superman. "Well, you'd better get going now. Batman's probably looking for you."

And Superman was finally giving him his attention. It wasn't the easy smile he'd favoured Robin with though. Superman looked at Conner with pain and all Conner could do was glare back, ignoring M'gann and Wally still looking at him with concern.

No one said anything, no one seemed to know what to say. It wasn't the relaxed silence that Conner usually appreciated but an awkward tense sort of silence.

"Gosh, you guys really need to talk and sort out your issues, or something!" Wally spoke up loudly into the room.

"There's no point," Conner found himself speaking. "He's just going to fly off and then _we_ can get back to the team's training."

Conner pointedly looked away from Superman who was just standing there and focussed instead on Black Canary; though she was now looking rather tired.

"Recognised Batman: 02." It was the cool voice of the Zeta teleporter.

Everyone seemed to glance over to the door, even Superman, anticipating Batman's arrival.

"I wonder if Batman will yell at Superman in front of us?" Wally asked aloud, no doubt still trying to ease the atmosphere.

"Batman doesn't really yell, he'll just glare sternly," Superman offered.

"How does he even know you're here?" M'gann ventured to ask.

Robin just cackled.

"Superman," Batman grunted, as he walked in, surveying the room intently.

"Hey Batman, I'm just visiting Robin. Making sure he's okay after getting kidnapped and such," Superman replied in a rush, sheepish grin on his face.

Batman seemed unimpressed by his words. He moved further into the room, gaze finally locking on Robin naturally. Robin seemed to be a beacon for attention for some reason even if he was just standing in a neutral position.

"Robin's fine," Batman declared. His glare locked on Superman once more. "You're disrupting his training."

"Well I think that you're training him too hard! I'm sure you make him perform to the highest standard at school on top of the ridiculous amounts of patrolling and training," Superman replied, giving Batman his own stern glance.

Batman was unmoved. "You have no business questioning my methods."

It was strange to think, but this was probably the most Superboy had heard Superman speak since he'd known him. Well, not that strange given that Superman tried to avoid him. This was the side of Superman he had always wanted to see, the fatherly side that protected others and wasn't afraid to speak his mind. But why did it have to be Robin?

Even Wally had abandoned him now to speak to his best friend. "Dude, are they seriously arguing over you?" Conner was able to make out the softly spoken words.

Robin didn't bother to reply as Superman spoke up once more. "Someone has to! Really, discussing his training right after they've done their group training is the perfect time to bring it up.

"Technically, it's supposed to still be going on…" Black Canary muttered.

Superman actually turned at her words. "But Black Canary, this could be the perfect time for you to go over your expectations and your team can give their feedback and feelings about how training goes!"

"Superman, you are not well-informed of this team's progress and status thus you really have no right to be giving your opinion," Batman said.

"I quite agree," Black Canary added, more loudly. "Please don't presume to tell me how to do my job. Especially given your treatment of Superboy."

Black Canary turned and shot him a reassuring smile. Conner froze, staring at Superman intently, awaiting his response. What was he going to say now that he was finally be called to account? Conner was pleased to know that Black Canary seemed to disapprove.

Superman didn't even look at him. "I was told you had taken him under your wing."

"That gives you no excuse to ignore him," Batman practically hissed. Batman disapproved too?

"I thought you'd understand. He was created as a weapon, to destroy and replace me. Who knows what those scientists programmed into him-"

"I'm not a weapon!"

Conner stood in front of Superman, glaring. He didn't remember standing up at running towards him. He was barely aware that he'd just shouted. He felt… angry. All Superman saw him as was a weapon? Not a person? Just a clone. That hurt.

Well if all he was good for was as a weapon then maybe Superman would excuse a few punches-

"Yes, I know," Superman said softly and for once his eyes were actually on him. His face (so similar to his own) was hard to read, but Conner thought he detected a touch of… sadness?

"I was going to say that his best – your best chance at a normal life requires me to stay far away from you. So you can live your own life," Superman said solemnly.

Conner felt some of his anger ebb away, in its place confusion. Did Superman really think like that? Could Cadmus have messed with his mind and he wasn't aware of it because Superman stayed away? But why didn't he ever say anything? Why did he have to keep his distance? It was stupid and offensive.

"You're wrong, you know?" A chirpy voice piped up. Conner looked up, drawn away from his thoughts to see it was Robin, of course, who was speaking. More than that, Robin was standing right next to him, shooting him a tiny smile. "Superboy doesn't want you to ignore him. I don't think you should ignore him either."

Superman looked downright affronted. It was strangely funny to see him so taken aback by the diminutive hero. "Robin-" he began.

"Superboy's my friend," Robin stated firmly. Conner felt warm at the words.

Superman nodded slowly. "I see," he murmured awkwardly.

And Conner supposed Superman was feeling too uncomfortable to stay any longer, with nothing substantial to say to Robin's words. Whatever the reason, he left not a moment later, making a swift retreat. It was disappointing but then again, Conner felt as if he understood him just a bit better. He tried not to be too angry and bitter.

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Despite the insistence that their training sessions were very important, Canary did end up allowing that particular session to conclude early, claiming that there was little to be gained from continuing. Conner was grateful, he didn't to deal with everyone watching him because of Superman. He had much to think about.

Superman had claimed he did care in his own way. But he didn't care for him in the same way he cared about Robin. Why did Robin garner so much affection?

It was maybe a few hours later when the team began gathering in the kitchen. M'gann was cooking as was her hobby while Wally was rifling through the cupboards looking for something to snack on. Conner merely sat down at the table, not feeling up to talking with either of them in his present mood. Then he heard the sounds of light footsteps. Conner glanced up to catch the sight of Robin entering, face unreadable as ever.

"Hey," he said, surprised at himself for uttering a greeting, not sure precisely what he wanted to say to Robin.

"Hello Conner," Robin greeted in return. "Hey Wally, M'gann."

Conner decided to just be blunt. "Why does Superman care about you?"

He could feel the stares of Wally and M'gann suddenly upon him but he focussed on Robin's response. Robin merely shrugged. "I've known him for a few years. He wasn't exactly friendly when I first met him, in fact he tried to tell me I couldn't be a hero."

"Oh." Conner wouldn't have guessed that. Robin was really clever and seemed to love going on missions and making a difference. "Why?"

"It was probably the fact that he was a tiny kid?" Wally chipped in to the conversation.

Robin gave Wally a look. "I wasn't tiny – and you weren't there anyway!" He sighed. "I don't know, I guess Superman didn't think I was old enough to fight crime when I was nine."

Wally snorted. "Dude, I don't think anyone thought you were old enough. I want to know how you convinced Batman in the first place."

"You certainly seemed to have convinced the league. The all seem fond of you now," M'gann said.

"Yeah," Conner muttered. So Robin was able to convince the league to let him fight crime when he was even younger than he was now. The only reason some of the league disapproved was because they wanted to protect him. Because they all cared about him. "They all seem fond of _you_."

Conner stood up and walked out of the kitchen, feeling frustrated though he couldn't say exactly why. He ignored Kaldur's concerned glances as he hurried passed him on the way to his room. It wasn't that he was angry at Robin, not exactly. But why did he deserve the attention of seemingly the entire league?

He sat down on his bed and sighed. It wasn't Robin's fault that he was-liked or that no one cared nearly as much about Superman's clone.

The door to his room opened; he'd left it unlocked. Robin entered; why couldn't he understand that maybe he wanted to be left alone? What reason did he have to come barging into his room anyway?

"What do you want?" Conner snarled, glaring as if in the hopes it would convince Robin to turn around and leave. No such luck.

"Just listen alright?"

Conner narrowed his eyes but nodded reluctantly. Robin loved to talk and wouldn't go away until he'd said whatever he'd wanted to say.

"You need to stop comparing yourself to me. It's stupid." Robin was straight to the point for once. And frightfully accurate.

"Oh, because you're perfect?" Conner snapped back.

There was a pause, and Conner couldn't help but note that Robin was frowning and looking uncharacteristically serious. "If only," the boy muttered softly.

"Seriously, I had to work really hard and it took a lot of time to get any of the Justice league to respect me. And Superman was especially challenging. He may like me now but at first I just upset him. You're upsetting him now," Robin continued.

Conner absorbed this new information. It was true that he didn't have the faintest idea of what Robin's situation had been like a few years ago. He almost never brought up his own history for whatever reason, even if it sounded quite interesting. Maybe it had been hard for him then. And then maybe it was possible to get Superman to like him someday if what Robin was saying was true,

Nevertheless. "You just said that I shouldn't compare my situation to your own," he pointed out.

Robin looked surprised for a split second before cracking up in laughter. "Guess you- you've got me there," he managed to say.

"Still, I mean it." Robin managed to control himself. "Don't ever expect for things to be easy, okay? If you want to have respect from Superman and the rest of the league then you have to work hard for it."

Conner nodded; it was good advice. Whatever else he might think about Robin, it was blindingly obvious that he worked really hard. He thought about the interrupted training session earlier, how Superman had tried to make it clear that he thought Robin did far too much. No one had even addresses the whole kidnapping thing yet. Had he seriously gotten kidnapped and didn't even think it was worth mentioning?

"Still," Robin added, and there was a trace of uncertainty in his voice. "You already have my respect, just so you're aware."

"Robin," Conner said. What could he say in response to such words? "…Thanks."

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 **Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it and please feel free to leave a review, I hope the characters felt in character, they were hard (but fun) to write!**

 **Oh and check out my favourites list, sorting by fandom. It's a list I'm pretty pleased with so far and you might discover a great Young Justice fanfic you've not read yet.**


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